{"id":17102,"date":"2021-10-18T14:14:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T14:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/"},"modified":"2021-10-18T14:14:12","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T14:14:12","slug":"making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the right choices in hit identification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like all parts of the drug discovery phases, successful hit identification is as much to do with solid decision making as it is about high-quality science.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0main focus\u00a0of hit identification is to identify and\u00a0<\/span>validate hit series of molecules that have the best chance of being developed into drug-like compounds. But how do you go about identifying hit molecules, and what are the most effective ways for teams to take drug candidates to future\u00a0<\/span>hit-to-lead<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>lead optimisation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0stages?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at\u00a0the importance of quality compound libraries for successful hit identification and validation, and how multidisciplinary teams capable of using a variety of screening methods\u00a0<\/span>ultimately make drug discovery faster, better and more likely to succeed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you identify hit molecules?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Most hit compounds are found through high-throughput screening (HTS)<\/a> of diverse compound libraries. <\/span>This involves two key aspects: a high-quality\u00a0library, and\u00a0using many different types of assays to screen candidate compounds for desired efficacy in a variety of different ways.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But what does this look like in practice?<\/span> \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, technological advances in assay automation have had a huge impact on HTS, allowing small teams of scientists to screen thousands of different compounds in simple\u00a0<\/span>in vitro<\/span><\/i>\u00a0tests like 3D cell imaging, droplet assays, calcium imaging functional assays, and mass spectrometric detection.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet\u00a0HTS assays are just the beginning,\u00a0with\u00a0a<\/span>n array\u00a0of counter, orthogonal, selectivity and secondary assays\u00a0required to identify the best hit series.\u00a0And in fact, using multiple assays is not enough.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The successful identification and expansion of hit molecules is hugely dependent on the quality and size of a compound library. For example, the latest fragment-based<\/a> drug discovery (FBDD) approaches of screening fragment libraries can rapidly identify and characterise small molecule (fragment) hits. <\/span><\/p>\n

FBDD programmes use high-throughput biophysical screening techniques to deliver small fragments that may only bind weakly to a biological target but can produce lead candidates with higher affinity by combining fragments into larger molecules. When more structural information is fed into the program, say by structural biologists and chemists, the progress can be faster.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h2>\n

Decisions, decisions: taking an \u2018active\u2019 to a \u2018hit\u2019<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Technological advances like study automation and\u00a0<\/span>in silico<\/span><\/i><\/a> screening methods have significantly improved\u00a0the\u00a0throughput and efficiency of HTS<\/a> in recent years, meaning considerably more time is spent analysing datasets and making decisions about which candidates show sufficient efficacy and utility to be taken to hit-to-lead phases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making efficient and robust decisions when determining whether to take an \u2018active\u2019 to a \u2018hit\u2019 is ultimately down to two points in the hit identification process:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Early assessment of the hit-finding landscape of the target,\u00a0<\/span>with strict selection of the\u00a0optimal\u00a0screening optimisation\u00a0approaches that are\u00a0best suited to the project.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The decision-making process of transitioning from an \u2018active\u2019 molecule detected in screening to a robustly validated \u2018hit\u2019.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The transition from an \u2018active\u2019 to a \u2018hit\u2019 is critically important for the eventual success or failure of drug candidates.\u00a0<\/span>For example,\u00a0it is important\u00a0to validate the purity and structure, rule out any false positive compounds<\/a>, and ensure that compound synthesis is optimal.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    For this, carefully designed experimental programmes using combinations of multiple orthogonal biophysical and biochemical techniques\u00a0<\/span>are crucial, playing an\u00a0important role\u00a0in\u00a0cross-validating results. These comprehensive study design suites are\u00a0vital\u00a0for improving the chances of\u00a0<\/span>success\u00a0when\u00a0moving from an \u2018active\u2019 to a \u2018hit, and\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>building\u00a0investors\u2019\u00a0confidence, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Integrated approaches in hit identification<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Successful hit identification and validation projects are equally dependent on comprehensive screening approaches\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span><\/i>\u00a0the ability for teams to make effective decisions about which candidates should be taken to hit-to-lead<\/a> phases.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In other words, the data is only as good as the team interpreting it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to have truly integrated teams of experts<\/a> with diverse expertise who can work together on hit identification in one place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    There can be tough decisions to make about risk-benefit profiles of molecules, and\u00a0the choices made at this step of the drug discovery process can have lasting\u00a0effects\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and significantly\u00a0<\/span>impact the success or failure of hit candidates down the line.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Ultimately, more integrated expertise translates into more secure decision making.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    [eBook] Accelerating Drug Discovery:<\/span><\/span><\/span> How to Increase Productivity with Integrated Strategies<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":17104,"template":"","category":[29],"class_list":["post-17102","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-categorise"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaking the right choices in hit identification - Sygnature<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_CA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making the right choices in hit identification - Sygnature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sygnature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/sygnature-hit-to-lead-team-collaboration-scaled.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimation du temps de lecture\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/blog\\\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/blog\\\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\\\/\",\"name\":\"Making the right choices in hit identification - Sygnature\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/blog\\\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/blog\\\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/shutterstock_1182849472-scaled-e1634207652314.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-18T14:14:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/blog\\\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/blog\\\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/blog\\\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/shutterstock_1182849472-scaled-e1634207652314.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/shutterstock_1182849472-scaled-e1634207652314.jpg\",\"width\":1625,\"height\":1004,\"caption\":\"|||\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/blog\\\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/page-daccueil\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Making the right choices in hit identification\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sygnature Discovery\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Sygnature\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sygnature\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Logo.svg\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1,\"caption\":\"Sygnature\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\\\/fr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making the right choices in hit identification - Sygnature","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/","og_locale":"fr_CA","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making the right choices in hit identification - Sygnature","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/","og_site_name":"Sygnature","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/sygnature-hit-to-lead-team-collaboration-scaled.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimation du temps de lecture":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/","name":"Making the right choices in hit identification - Sygnature","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/shutterstock_1182849472-scaled-e1634207652314.jpg","datePublished":"2021-10-18T14:14:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-CA","@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/shutterstock_1182849472-scaled-e1634207652314.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/shutterstock_1182849472-scaled-e1634207652314.jpg","width":1625,"height":1004,"caption":"|||"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/making-the-right-choices-in-hit-identification\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/page-daccueil\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Making the right choices in hit identification"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/","name":"Sygnature Discovery","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Sygnature","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/#organization","name":"Sygnature","url":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-CA","@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Logo.svg","width":1,"height":1,"caption":"Sygnature"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/17102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/17102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=17102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}